NAR Protecting Commercial Mortgage Availability

A rule coming out at the end of the year that will require lenders to retain 5 percent of the money they lend for offices, retail centers and other commercial projects whose mortgages are packaged into securities and sold to investors on Wall Street. The risk-retention requirement is part of the qualified mortgage provisions included in the Dodd-Frank banking reform law enacted in 2010, but its application to commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) raises liquidity concerns.
NAR’s effort is a top story in the latest Voice for Real Estate news video. Click here to view the video.

Also covered is NAR’s latest effort to stop patent trolls. NAR has filed a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of a patent that a patent troll is using to try to coax money out of real estate businesses.